DH Trip Reports

[fishquinn]

Sounds like a good few trips. For your last few GWR powercars I suggest looking at which are meant to be retained by GWR and which are meant to go to Scotland. Make the ones that currently don't have a home your priority.

 

[Dhassell]

26/10 Weekday London

After falling asleep at 10pm after the day out to Mid Wales the day before, I was up at 5am for a trip to London. I was down at Weston station at 06:20 for the service to Bristol Temple Meads, formed of double duds 43063 + 43xxx. I have 20 minutes at Temple Meads before dud 158958 rolls in to take me onwards to Salisbury. I have another 20-minute wait at Salisbury before double duds 159107 + 159017 roll in to take me the hour and a half towards London. I decide to bail at Clapham Junction.

South Western Railway 159017, Clapham Junction 26.10.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I decided to head to platform 3 or 4 to see what would be the first service to Vauxhall, double winners 458509 + 458503 rolled in to take me onwards to Vauxhall. I then run across to platform 7 for a Waterloo bound service, double winners 5735 + 5731 where the first to roll in, they took me to Waterloo. Next, I walk upstairs to Waterloo East, where I board double winners 465929 + 465248 to London Bridge, before 10 minutes later winner 376014 + 376019 pull in to take me non-stop to Lewisham. I have just over 15 minutes at Lewisham before winner 465155 pulls in to take me one stop up the line to St Johns, another 5 minutes later winner 465189 rolls in to take me to my first new shack of the day, New Cross. I decide to spend half an hour on the platform photographing passing trains, before heading over to the London Overground platforms.

South Eastern 465189, New Cross 26.10.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I jump onboard winner 378149 for the short journey one stop up the line to Surrey Quays, where I have 6 minutes before winner 378215 takes me another two stops to Wapping, where I take a 10 minute look outside before returning to the platforms and jumping on winner 378147 to Shoreditch High Street. I exit the station here, and decide to have a little walk to the nearest rail line, which happened to be a 10 minute stroll down to Liverpool Street.

London Overground 378215, Surrey Quays 26.10.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I spot a pair of 317’s waiting to depart, so I decide to join double winners 317345 + 317511 for a non-stop ride out to Tottenham hale, before making a +2 onto another pair of double winners, 317670 + 317658 back into Liverpool Street. I decide to head down to the Central Line platforms, I join 92251 + 92428 + 92254 + 92xxx to Bank, before heading to the Northern Line platforms. I join double winners 51609 + 51705 to Old Street, before waiting 3 minutes for double winners 51546 + 51705 roll in to take me another stop to Angel. I decide to head upstairs at Angel to sample the longest escalator (I believe) on the network.

I head back down and jump onboard double winners 51541 + 51540 to Chalk Farm. Before heading upstairs and walking back to Camden Town via the market. I take 51667 + 51xxx to Kentish Town (LU) before walking upstairs to Kentish Town (NR). I wait for the next Thameslink service to roll in, which happened to be winner 700016 which I took to St Pancras, before having a quick look around the St Pancras concourse before returning to the platforms and catching winner 700022 to Blackfriars and then winner 700038 to Elephant and Castle.

Thameslink 700113, Kentish Town 26.10.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I had decided to catch the 16:50 service home, and it was 16:28 by the time I arrived at Elephant and Castle. I thought it would be easy to get up to Waterloo In such short time, with it only being two stops on the Bakerloo Line, but I was wrong. I had to walk through a shopping mall, and then down two flights of escalators, and then along the Northern Line platform, and then through more tunnels, arriving at the platform 8 minutes later at 16:36! I jump onboard double winners 3237 + 3467 to Waterloo, arriving at 16:41 and making my way up to the concourse by 16:45. I manage to pick up a free small can of coke from a giveaway on the station and make my way down to the far end of my 8-coach train formed of winners 159013 + 158886 and dud 159018, which I would take all the way to Salisbury.

I alighted at Salisbury 1hr and 30 minutes later, and had 20 minutes to spare, so I went down to the Chinese takeaway just down the road and ordered a chicken omelette for the journey home, eventually dud 158798 rolled in to take me all the way back to Bristol Temple Meads, before I joined double duds 43018 + 43xxx back to Weston, arriving home at roughly 20:54.

Winning Units: 33
Shacks cleared: 9

Winning Units YTD: 480
Shacks cleared YTD: 171

 

[Kite159]

A busy day in London

 

[Dhassell]

New Report coming here soon! Just checking out the Flickr BBcode sizes.

GWR IET Long Exposure, Weston-Super-Mare 13.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

 

[Dhassell]

It has been awhile! I have a slight backlog of trips to right up, they will appear within in the next few weeks.

I cleared 166210 on a hop between Montpelier and Bristol Temple Meads, and one of my final 5 HST powercars with GWR (43177) on a hop from Bristol Temple Meads to Weston, both back in early November.

On the 13th of November, I scored 800011 + 800013 on a hop between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-S-M on their first run with passengers south of Bristol. And on the 14th, I scored both 166204 and 800010 + 800012 on a return ticket to Yatton on the evening in question.

GWR IET 800013 First IET Passenger Service into Weston-Super-Mare 1A37, 13.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

17/11 Heart of Wessex Rover:

I had decided I would use today to try and clear a few of my final 4 GWR HST powercars. As it was a weekday, and I didn’t want to pay the £12 minimum fare to get up to Bristol Temple Meads, I was forced to take the X1 bus, which took an hour to get to Bristol Bus Station, and then another 30 minutes to get to Temple Meads Station.

I was at Temple Meads by 9am, and went to the ticket office and bought my rover. Before heading over to platform 15 to see which IET’s would be forming the 09:30 service. It was double duds 800010 + 800012, which I took all the way to Swindon, charging my phone on the way. I decided to base today around Swindon, as if any of my power cars were out, the majority would pass through here.

I had found out that sadly only one of my power cars where out and about today, and I would have to fork out on a return to Kemble to get it! For an extra quid, I decided to get a return to Stroud, as my visit to clear the shack in august was short lived after a late running train. Double duds 43170 + 43165 rolled in to take me 2 stops down the line to Stroud. Where I had a 5 minute fester before winner 43133 and dud 43193 rolled in to take me back to Swindon.

I decided I wanted an hour photographing buses in Swindon. So I did that and returned to the station about an hour later. Noticing a Chippenham train was due to depart, I sprinted up to the platform and jumped onboard an unidentified HST set to Chippenham, I never did get the two power cars numbers. As I knew that I had no other chance of picking up powercars, I decided to make another Heart of Wessex rover for shacks shorter, by visiting one of them. I waited 20 minutes before dud 153333 rolled in to take me through the Trans wilts line to Westbury, before sticking on the train to my only new shack of the day, Frome.

GWR 153333, Frome 17.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I had 20 minutes at Frome, which I spent over the road in the local shop picking up some snacks, before returning to the station and re-joining 153333 back to Westbury. I have a couple of minutes wait, before South Western Railway 159007 rolls in to take me 30 minutes towards Bath Spa. Where I head out of the station and photograph some buses for 40 minutes. Before passing through the gateline and heading back to the London bound platform. (After the gateline staff told me to try putting it in myself, before letting me through after it failed like I told him…)

I decided I would have a ride to Bradford-on-Avon and back. I boarded dud 158951 to Bradford, before standing on the other platform wondering, “Where the hell is my train?”. Oh its delayed. About 30 minutes later, after it should have been a tight +2 connection, dud 150265 rolls in to take me all the way back to Bristol Temple Meads. Where I couldn’t be bothered to get the bus back home, so bought a single back to Weston and boarded double duds 43145 + 43129 back to Home!

GWR 158951, Bradford-on-Avon 17.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Winning Units: 6
Shacks cleared: 1

Winning Units YTD: 486
Shacks cleared YTD: 172

 

[Kite159]

153 thrash!

 

[Dhassell]

18/11 West Midlands Day Tripper

It was a day after my previous trip, and I was back on the rails once again. I headed down to the station for the 06:24 service, which I took to Swindon, this was formed of double duds 43154 + 43174. Here, I headed out to the station and walked 10 minutes out of town to a McDonalds to fetch something to eat for breakfast, before returning to the station, and boarding a ram packed Cross country diverted service. I had to stand all the way from Swindon to Cheltenham, where I got a seat… before being kicked out of said seat, before finding another seat… Dud 220029 took me all the way to Birmingham New Street, arriving just before 10am. I headed straight to the Network West Midlands Ticket office to pick up my Daytripper.

Midland Metro 36, St Paul's 18.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I made my way to the tram platforms, and firstly took dud 36 to St Paul’s. Before returning to Bull Street on winner 25. I decided to head into Snow Hill station, and quickly made my way onboard winner 172213 for the quick leap down to Moor Street. Before making my way back towards New Street. I boarded winner 350377 for the 10-minute journey to Smethwick Galton Bridge, Where I then headed upstairs and had a 10 minute wait before winner 172338 rolled in to take me to Jewellery Quarter, where I required the tram side of the station, so I boarded tram 36 again to clear the tram side of Jewellery Quarter. I took tram 36 all the way back to Bull Street, where I slowly made my way to Moor Street after photographing a few buses along the way.

London Midland 172339, Smethwick Galton Bridge 18.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Once I was at Moor Street, I decided I wanted to clear some shacks in the semi-local Birmingham area, so I boarded winner 172340 to Tyseley. Before taking a quick walk down to the depot to see what I could see, before re-joining dud 172214 which would take me to Small Heath. 7 minutes later, winner 172339 rolls in to take me back down the line to Acocks Green, where I have another 10-minute wait before dud 172337 rolls in to take me back to Birmingham Moor Street, where once again I decide to cross over the road back to Birmingham New Street for the remainder of the afternoon.

London Midland 172339, Acocks Green 18.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I decided to jump onboard dud 221105 all the way back to Coventry, it was absolutely ram packed, and crawled to Coventry after Birmingham International due to a late running LM 350. The service arrived into Coventry. I popped outside the station to Photograph a few buses, and returned to quickly board winner 350120 back to Birmingham International, before having a 5-minute wait before double winners 221103 + 221106 roll in to take me back to Birmingham New Street.

Virgin Trains 221105, Coventry 18.11.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I join winner 323202 to Duddeston, before waiting 5 minutes before winner 323243 roll in to take me back through New Street to Five Ways, and then finally winner 323240 back to Birmingham New Street. Due to the diverted XC services, I had to leave earlier than usual, so I headed to the 17:30 XC service to Cardiff Central, formed of 170113. I had the option of bailing at Cheltenham and waiting for the diverted service via Swindon to Bristol, or stay on this at Cheltenham and taking it all the way to Newport to transfer to a rail replacement coach, the latter would mean I would possibly get home earlier, but I decided I would bail at Cheltenham as I did not fancy the Rail Replacement. What a bad choice that turned out to be! The platform was heaving with those who had gone to Cheltenham races! I managed to nab a pair of priority seats onboard dud 221127 all the way back to Bristol Temple Meads. At one point I thought I might be able to connect to an IET at Swindon, getting back 30 minutes earlier, but that didn’t fall into place when we left Swindon 5 minutes late. The service arrived back into Bristol Temple Meads 1 late at 19:31, after being very early approaching Bath, but getting held at Bathampton Junction for a Keynsham stopper… I boarded a cosy dud 166214 to take me back home, arriving at around half past 8.

2/12 Southampton, Eastleigh and Winchester.

Today was less of a bash, but more of a bus photographing day in the Southampton, Eastleigh and Winchester Area.

07:36 Weston-S-M to Bristol Temple Meads 166208
08:22 Bristol Temple Meads to Romsey 158951
10:07 Romsey to Eastleigh 158886
11:47 Eastleigh to Winchester 444041
14:19 Winchester to Eastleigh 444037
15:00 Eastleigh to Southampton Central 444041
16:10 Southampton Central to Bristol Temple Meads 158957
18:18 Bristol Temple Meads to Weston-S-M 43091 + 43030

Great Western Railway 166208, Bristol Temple Meads 2.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Freightliner 66569, Eastleigh 2.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Selection of GBRF & Freightliner Class 66's, Eastleigh Yard 2.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

9/12 Bristol

06:00 Weston-S-M to Bristol Temple Meads 67020 + 67003
07:16 Bristol Temple Meads to Redland 166202
07:34 Redland to Bristol Temple Meads 166216
08:51 Bristol Temple Meads to Bath Spa 159102
09:44 Bath Spa to Chippenham 43094 + 43124
10:15 Chippenham to Bristol Temple Meads 800012 + 800011
16:10 Bristol Temple Meads to Weston-S-M 150127

DB Cargo 1Z86 Pathfinder Railtours 'The Lincoln Shire Explorer' 67020 + 67003, Bristol Temple Meads 9.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Great Western Railway 166202, Bristol Temple Meads 9.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Great Western Railway 43004, Bristol Temple Meads 9.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

16/12 Cardiff & Pontypridd

Once again, this was more of bus photography trip, but managed to fit in a few shacks and required units as well!

07:37 Weston-S-M to Newport 150108
09:01 Newport to Cardiff Central 175009
0936 Cardiff Central to Radyr via Ninian 153303
0956 Radyr to Treforest 142072
1022 Treforest to Pontypridd (Bay Platform) 142077 + 143614
12:08 Pontypridd to Taffs Well 150245
12:28 Taffs Well to Cardiff Central 143622 + 142006
16:26 Cardiff Central to Bristol Parkway 43089 + 43136
17:12 Bristol Parkway to Weston-S-M 150002

Arriva Trains Wales 153303, Radyr 16.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Arriva Trains Wales 150257, Radyr 16.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

DB Cargo 60039 'Dove Holes', Cardiff Central 16.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Winning Units: 22
Shacks cleared: 12

Winning Units YTD: 508
Shacks cleared YTD: 184

 

[Kite159]

A busy few days

I bet you are happy the 166s are slowly heading out west to give you some GWR required units in your local area

 

[Dhassell]

A busy few days

I bet you are happy the 166s are slowly heading out west to give you some GWR required units in your local area

Defiantly happy the Turbos are finally being transferred! Still need quiet a few Reading based ones currently, and its better than a 150/1 on a local stopping service comfort wise!

 

[185143]

Arriva Trains Wales 150257, Radyr 16.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

You had to didn't you...

 

[Dhassell]

You had to didn't you...

Hehe... Required?

 

[Cowley]

You’ve had some good trips in the last month by the looks of things.
Nice to see Eastleigh with a good selection of diesels outside, I do like the railways around there. Plenty going on. Happy Christmas fella.

 

[Dhassell]

You’ve had some good trips in the last month by the looks of things.
Nice to see Eastleigh with a good selection of diesels outside, I do like the railways around there. Plenty going on. Happy Christmas fella.

Always something going on around Eastleigh! Hope you had a good Christmas as well!

 

[Dhassell]

29/12 Southampton & Eastleigh

After seeing a few photos of Rail Replacement Buses around the Southampton area a couple of days before this trip, I had the urge to go and photograph them myself, and also make use of the diverted GWR services which could take me direct between Bristol TM and Eastleigh.

I made my way down to my local station at 06:30am and picked up my return to Eastleigh, before making my way over to platform 1 and board winner 166204! This would take me up to Bristol Temple Meads, arriving at 07:10 before a 10-minute wait before dud 158951 rolled in to take me onwards all the way to Eastleigh, taking just under 2 hours! I arrived into Eastleigh at 0905!

I made my way outside the station to take some pictures of the Rail Replacements, as well as the regular service buses in the bus station, before taking a 10-minute walk up the road to the nearby Barton Park Industrial Estate which plays host to 3 of the major bus companies in the local area. I then walked the other direction for 15 minutes before spending a bit of time looking in the yard before taking the walk back to the station, arriving back at around 10:45, with 5 minutes to spare before double duds 444021 + 444036 rolled in to take me 5 minutes up the line to Southampton Airport Parkway where they would terminate due to the engineering works.

I made my way outside the platform, and managed to miss the half hourly buses by walking up the road to photograph them as they pulled in! Half an hour later, I boarded an Ex First Bus Greenline Wright Gemini BF63 HDX which had just be relieved from service between London and Slough a few weeks prior. I took this bus for the 15/20 minute back to Southampton Central, where I spent the next 4 hours around the station and town photographing the regular service buses and rail replacements.

I decided to leave Southampton on the 15:53 train back to Salisbury, formed of dud 158890 and winner 158882! It took 40 minutes to get back to Salisbury, and I have 10 minutes to wait before dud 158958 rolled in to take me back to Bristol Temple Meads, arriving just before 6pm. Luckily the earlier Weston train had been delayed, so I boarded triple duds 150265 + 153305 + 153333 all the way back to Weston, arriving at around half past 6!

Great Western Railway 158951, Eastleigh 29.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

First Berkshire Greenline Wright Gemini BF63 HDX 37998, Southampton Airport Parkway 29.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

South Western Railway 158882, Southampton Central 29.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

30/12 Rhymney Valley Line

After my visit to the lower part of the valley lines (between Cardiff & Pontypridd) two weeks prior, I had the urge to revisit and try another line. I wasn’t up earlier, and made my way to the station for the 08:30 service formed of double duds 43002 + 43158. The service arrived into Bristol TM half hour later at 08:57, and I noticed on the departure board the 08:54 Cardiff service was still on the board, so decided to sprinter over to platform 9 and boarded dud 158960 which would take me over to Newport, where I transferred onto a late running HST service formed of double duds 43030 + 43xxx to take me onwards to Cardiff Central.

For my first move, I decided to head up to Cardiff Queen Street on the 09:56 service, formed of double duds 142006 + 142075. I quickly changed platforms before joining winner 142074 to my first shack of the day, Caerphilly, where I spent 15 minutes photographing buses before winner 150260 took me all the way up the rest of the line to Rhymney. I had 10 minutes here before a now 150260 took me back down the line to Bargoed. I headed out of the station and into the local town, where I found a reasonably priced chip shop to get some dinner! I decided to take the 10-minute walk down the hill to the nearby, Gilfach Fargoed station, which has one of the shortest platforms in the UK! So short that when winner 143607 and dud 142072 rolled in, only half a door opened, it being a pacer so boarding from the guard door meant that only half opened! It was quiet a step up as well! I got chatting to the guard about the valley lines for a few minutes before bailing at the next shack of the day, Hengoed. Which I noticed had a nice railway viaduct from the old “high level” station running next to the station, I decided to walk across it, as it is now a footpath, and it offered some good views! I returned to the station for the next train 15 minutes before, formed of double duds 143604 + 142076 down the line slightly more to Ystrad Mynach.

I had another 15 minutes here before dud 142074 arrived to take me even further down the line, I decided to bail at Aber and take a 15-minute walk back into Caerphilly town and past the castle, back to the railway station. I spent 10 minutes photographing buses before boarding dud 143601 down to the very sorry looking Lisvane & Thornhill, there wasn’t a lot here, and it looked a bit run down, so I boarded the next service along the line, formed of dud 150262 to Llanishen, where I had another 15 minute fester before dud 150281 rolled in to take me back to Cardiff Queen Street, where 15 minutes later I took dud 142069 back to Cardiff Central, as I was running out of time and no required units had been past. I decided to catch the fast HST back to Bristol Parkway formed of duds 43192 + 43182, before connecting with dud 150216 to take me the 50 minutes back to Weston!

Arriva Trains Wales 150260, Rhymney 30.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Arriva Trains Wales 150260, Bargoed 30.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Arriva Trains Wales 143607, Gilfach Fargoed 30.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Arriva Trains Wales 142074, Aber 30.12.17 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

31/12

13:20 Weston-S-M to Bristol Temple Meads 800016 + 800018
13:55 Bristol Temple Meads to Weston-S-M 43139 + 43031

Winning Units: 7
Shacks cleared: 9

2017 Round-Up!

Winning Units YTD: 515
Shacks cleared YTD: 193
Total Mileage YTD: 13,645 Miles
Average Mileage Per Month: 1134 Miles
Total Journeys: 819

Overall, I have very much enjoyed this year, and look forward to trying to match these stats during 2018! Thank you to those who have read my reports this year, and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

 

[Kite159]

Mmm Pacer!

Sounded like a good couple days for you, have a good 2018

 

[Techniquest]

Certainly a productive few trips there!

I can't be bothered to work out all my scores in 2017, but I did finish on 12,964 miles so I'm pleased about that, after all I was practically retired from trains in Q4 2017!

 

[Dhassell]

2018

1/1

With no plans of what to do on this day I had decided to stay home and have a relaxing day, but I soon read that a HST set was covering for a Class 166 Turbo on a Cardiff to Taunton diagram, so I decide to take a ride. I took 43176 + 43185 to Taunton and back to score my first miles of the year. Later in the evening I also had information that a set of required IET’s where coming down, so I decided to pop out to get them, I took 158951 to Yatton, before joining dud 166204 back to Worle, before scoring my first winners of the year, 800014 + 800020!

13/1 London

I hadn’t had a trip to London since last October, so thought it was about time! I headed down to the station for the retimed early morning London train (only one minute later though!), this morning it was formed of double duds 43131 + 43190, which I took all the way to Reading! I decided to bail at Reading for some class 387 action! I had 3 minutes to make my way over to platform 13 to join double winners 387145 + 387149, which I took to my first required shack of the year, Slough! I spent 30 minutes outside slough station photographing buses before I headed back to the station and jumped onboard double duds 43010 + 43079 direct into Paddington!

I decided I wanted to spend some time in some new places I hadn’t been to today! So firstly, I headed over to H&C platforms to join the line down towards Hammersmith. I had a rough plan which I had made the day before, and I was slightly ahead of my plan! So, I jumped onboard double winners 21467 + 21468 to Royal Oak. I spent 5 minutes here, photographing a HC 360 and a HST set before jumping onboard double duds 21429 + 21430 further down the line, passing the very sorry looking Grenfell Site, where the tube fell silent and stared out the window until it went past. I decided to alight this set at Shepherds Bush Market, and decided to walk through the market itself to the other side, where I found Shepherds Bush Bus Garage! I decided to take a few photos before heading into Goldhawk Road tube station before awaiting the next tube further down the line! The next one which rolled in had Hammersmith on the destination and everybody boarded, only to be kicked off moments later by the driver terminating the train early! I had another 5 minutes to wait before double winners 21498 + 21497 rolled in to take me down to Hammersmith (H&C).

Great Western Railway 43093, Royal Oak 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

RATP Group London United Wright Gemini 3 LJ16 EWU VH45195, Goldhawk Road 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I spent around 45 minutes around Hammersmith photographing buses as well as the brand new Greenline 702 route operated by Reading Buses, before heading down to Hammersmith (District) Tube station, where I boarded double winners 21466 + 21465 to Earls Court, before I transferred to the Piccadilly Line, Firstly I joined double winners 178 + 145 to Knightsbridge and then 232 + 117 to Green Park, before transferring onto the Victoria Line and winners 11084 + 11083 to Victoria, where I headed above ground. I decided to join double winners 465925 + 465904 to Brixton. Where once again I spent around half an hour exploring the local area and photographing buses.

Reading Buses Greenline 702 GO11 LDN 1208, Hammersmith Bridge Road 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

London Underground S7 Stock 21432, Earls Court 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Southeastern 465904, London Victoria 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

GoAhead London Wright Streetlite SK67 FKA WS91, Brixton Road 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I headed back to Brixton station after the 30 minutes, and decided to try and score a few shacks in the local area from here, I decided to take double winners 465049 + 465181 to Herne Hill. Where I had a little walk whilst I waited 15 minutes for the next service north. I boarded winner 700013 to Loughborough Junction, where I had another 15-minute wait before winner 700035 rolled in to take me all the way north to Farringdon, where I transferred onto the sub surface lines, I boarded duds 21429 + 21430 to Liverpool Street, where I popped upstairs to see a dead station with not a lot running, so I decided to head back onto the Circle line and boarded winners 21523 + 21524 around to Tower Hill. Where I decided to alight once again and take a walk across Tower Bridge to the newly refurbished London Bridge station.

GTR Thameslink 700013, Herne Hill 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Tower Transit Enviro 200 YX12 AHK DMV 44256, Tower Bridge 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

It was also dead at London Bridge, so I decided to join the Northern Line and boarded 51557 + 51578 to Bank. I decided to join the Central Line from here, and boarded triple winners 92081 + 92454 + 92188 and dud 92337 to Chancery Lane. I then joined winners 92011 + 92410 + 92118 + 92119 to Holborn, where I decided to head above ground and have another walk, as I was done with bashing for today at this point. I decided to walk towards Aldywch before heading via Covent Garden and the Transport Museum Shop where I had a little nosey. Eventually I ended up at Euston after trialling a new MCV Evo-Seti bus. I headed back onto the Victoria Line and joined winners 11016 + 11015 to Oxford Circus before boarding winner 3540 and dud 3333 on the Bakerloo Line all the way back to Paddington, before I joined 43128 + 43xxx back to Reading to try some bus photos in the dark. Eventually I headed back into Reading Station for the train home, and luckily ended up onboard an IET! Winner 800015 and dud 800009 back to Home! I have to say that those IET’s sure do rocket on electric, there was a solid run of 125mph, reaching 70mph on the top of Reading Flyover alone!

GoAhead London East London Transit New Routemaster LTZ2150 LT950, Aldwych 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Tower Transit RV1 Wright Pulsar 2 LF63 XZU WSH62997, Catherine Street Aldwych 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Virgin Trains Pendolino 390049, London Euston 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Reading Buses Sky Blue Enviro 400 SN61 BCV 225, Friar Street 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Reading Buses Claret Enviro 400 MMC YX64 VRN 753, Reading Station 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Thames Travel River Rapids X40 Enviro 400 UF10 OXF 229, Station Road Reading 13.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Winning Units: 37
Shacks cleared: 8

Winning Units YTD: 37
Shacks cleared YTD: 8

 

[Kite159]

Good mix of buses

 

[Techniquest]

Lots of buses! Not a bad day by the looks of it!

 

[Dhassell]

Good mix of buses

Lots of buses! Not a bad day by the looks of it!

Aye, the reason for the mix of buses lately is that I seem to enjoy mixing up the day a bit, bashing here and there with trying to photograph some interesting buses in between!

 

[185143]

<Insert Inbetweeners quote>

 

[Cowley]

Mmm buses ...
I drove one halfway across France once. A friend of mine had one that was (badly) converted to a motor home, it was a right old wreck really, it was very similar to this one...

At one point while driving along a motorway I felt a faint thump and looked across to see a guy staring back at me from a white Renault Twingo. The side of his car was all dented up and covered in red paint marks where he’d slammed into the side of us.
He didn’t stop and I just assumed that maybe he was drunk and lost concentration for a moment. I barely felt it but his car was in a right mess.
When we stopped the bus to see if there was any damage you couldn’t actually tell what was new because there were so many dents on the thing already.

 

[Dhassell]

A nice little Anecdote Cowley!

 

[Dhassell]

20/1 Dartmoor Railway

The aim for the day was to head down to a heritage railway I had not been to before, the Dartmoor Railway, as they had a Class 31 running day on this day. I headed down to the station for the 07:08 service which was booked as a DMU normally, but due to engineering works, it was terminating early at Totnes, which meant the usual DMU had be substituted for duds 43079 + 43010!

I took this pair down to Exeter St Davids, where I had roughly an hour to wait until the 6/6A bus rolled in. I jumped onboard and headed straight upstairs to get front seat on a rather comfy Stagecoach Scania Enviro 400 which I took the 1-hour journey through the outskirts of Dartmoor to Okehampton. Where I had a 15-minute walk to Okehampton Station. I picked up my day rover and headed out onto the platform. I noticed that the train was still on platform 2 instead of platform 3, where it should have shunted prior to me getting here. Everybody started heading over the footbridge and jumped onboard the train, so I decided to follow. It was shortly announced that there was a brake fault! And it might be some time until it was fixed!

DCR 31452, Okehampton Dartmoor Railway 20.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

The train departed Okehampton platform 2 for the short shunt out of the station, and back into platform 3, arriving into Okehampton platform 3 around 32 minutes late, it was on this short little journey I scored 31452, which would be hauling all the trips today. The train set off from Okehampton at 10:40, roughly 25 minutes late. It headed roughly 15 miles to Coleford Junction (The NR Boundary) before reversing at around 11:15 departing Coleford Junction roughly only 15 minutes late, and arrived back into Okehampton at 11:51, only 6 minutes late. There was 25-minute break in the journey, so I headed into the buffet and picked up a sausage roll to eat on the train. The next train departed Okehampton again at 12:15, but in the opposite direction, heading towards Meldon Quarry and the rarely used Meldon Quarry Road 12. The train ran on time both ways and arrived back into Okehampton at 12:50. I had scored everything on the railway I could have today, so I decided to run down the road for the 13:10 bus, which was formed of another Stagecoach Scania Enviro 400. This took another hour to get back to Exeter.

Meldon Quarry from the Train 20.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I spend the afternoon in Exeter photographing buses, and rail replacement at Exeter St Davids, before returning to the station at roughly 16:30, and I joined the 17:03 service to Tiverton Parkway formed of 43010 + 43079 for the second time today. I had roughly 20 minutes at Tiverton Parkway before winner 221144 rolled in to take me to Taunton! I had a 20 minute change at Taunton for 158766 to take me back to Weston!

GOLD At the end of the Rainbow, Exeter Bus Station 20.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Plymouth City Coach Plaxton Paragon JSK 261 313, Exeter St Davids 20.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Arriva Crosscountry 221144, Exeter St Davids 20.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

25/1

I had found out, one of my final HST power cars I needed for haulage was to be shortly withdrawn, so I spent a few days waiting to see if it would pop onto an evening Weston run, or I would have to venture out the next day to find it! Luckily it was planned to work the 16:50 arrival into Weston and then the 17:10 departure! I took the 16:10 service from Weston to Yatton formed of winner 166203! And then returned to Weston on 43177, I headed straight out the barriers and walked through the car park to see 43168 parked on the end! Success! That leaves me with 3 power cars to go with GWR!

Winning Units: 3
Shacks cleared: 1

Winning Units YTD: 40
Shacks cleared YTD: 9

 

[Kite159]

Fingers crossed you will get your last 3 GWR 43s on easy leaps before they go off-lease

 

[Techniquest]

Hopefully the final 3 will fall easily, it took a lot of effort to get my last 2 in 2008!

31452, ooh that must be going back to I think summer 2004 when I first had that!

 

[Dhassell]

Fingers crossed you will get your last 3 GWR 43s on easy leaps before they go off-lease

Hopefully the final 3 will fall easily, it took a lot of effort to get my last 2 in 2008!

31452, ooh that must be going back to I think summer 2004 when I first had that!

I hope the final 3 fall easier! I haven't searched for them for a little while now.

 

[Dhassell]

Two months after I posted my last report and I am back, catching up with a few trips between Feb and April, there isn't many, around 4 or 5 which I will post within the next few days. Anyway, here are the first two.

27/1 Treherbert Valley Line.

So, after a break of a month since I last did a Valley Line, I decided it was time to try and do another! It wasn’t an early start and I took dud 166204 to Bristol Temple Meads, where I made a 15-minute connection onto dud 158950 which would take me all the way over to Cardiff Central. From here I jumped straight on the Valley Lines, where winner 150251 was taken to Pontypridd, where I left the station and made the walk into town for breakfast. Half hour later and I was back on the station, and joined winner 150229 all the way to Treherbert. It was chucking it down with rain when I arrived, and couldn’t see it was worth spending half an hour here in this weather, so I jumped straight back onboard 150229. I took this unit back down to Ynyswen, where I decided to walk along to the next station which was around a mile.

Arriva Trains Wales 150251, Pontypridd 27.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

20 minutes later and I arrived at Treorchy and joined double duds 142075 + 143605 to Tonypandy where once again I decided to walk to the next station before the next train arrived. This walk took around 15 minutes to get to Dinas Rhondda. I then took winner 150280 back up the line to Llwynypia where I had 7 minutes before dud 142073 and winner 143608 came to take me back to Porth. I spent an hour in Porth looking for buses, before returning to the station and boarding dud 150229 back to Radyr, where I connected onto dud 143605 for the city line service back to Cardiff Central.

Arriva Trains Wales 142075, Tonypandy 27.1.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I decided to head back to Newport on the first train, this happened to be double duds 800013 + 800015. I had roughly an hour at Newport before taking dud 166204 back to Bristol Temple Meads and then eventually double duds 43131 + 43139 back to Weston, arriving just before 7pm.

Winning Units: 4
Shacks cleared: 7


24/3 London

It was an early start, as I was down the station at 06:10 for the 06:25 train to Paddington formed of 43024 + 43189. The journey went smoothly, and the train arrived into London 5 late, after being held up on the Berks & Hants Line. I jumped straight onto the Bakerloo Line with dud 3237 and winner 3565 taking me down to Charing Cross. I end up from here walking across the river to Waterloo. I spotted some 707’s in the platform, the first time I have seen one in service, and decided to go for a ride. I jumped onboard winner 707028 to Queenstown Road (Battersea), where I had roughly 10 minutes photographing passing trains, I next jumped onboard winner 707016 to Clapham Junction, where I had another 40-minute photographing trains on the station.

For my next move I joined double duds 5730 + 5735 and winner 456007 (weird to see a class 456 out on a Saturday!) to Wimbledon, where I ran across the bridge for a +3 onto dud 700029 for a ride around the Sutton Loop to Sutton. Next up was winner 377617 which took me to West Croydon. I spent roughly 10 minutes outside photographing buses before joining winner tram 2556 to East Croydon. I spent roughly 40 minutes on East Croydon station photographing passing trains and a BLS railtour before moving on.

West Coast Railway Company 37518 Branch Line Society &#x27;The Sussex Salopian&#x27; , East Croydon 24.3.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I decided to join winner 700052 for probably one of the last times I will do East Croydon to Blackfriars via Crystal Palace. I took this set all the way up to St Pancras International. I wanted to do something new and different next, so I went up stairs to the EMT ticket office and bought a Boundary Zone 6 to Luton return. I headed up to the EMT gate line and showed my combination of tickets to be let through and boarded winner 222009. Journey went smoothly until St Albans area where the two guards (one I assume was training) came through to check tickets. One was adamant that the boundary zone 6 ticket wasn’t valid on the train, and the train was meant to stop at Borehamwood… She said she wasn’t sure though so wouldn’t take any further action… I alighted at Luton 10 minutes later. I spent roughly 40 minutes outside the station photographing some buses before returning to the platform and boarding dud 700029 to Luton Airport Parkway. I spent roughly half an hour here photographing the shuttle buses.

Arriva The Shires Wright Eclipse KX12 GZS 3955 , Luton &amp; Dunstable Busway 24.3.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

I returned to the platforms at the Airport Parkway Station and joined dud 700052 down to St Albans. Where I had roughly 15 minutes before 700016 took me down fast to St Pancras International. I decided to walk over to Kings Cross and have a little bit of a stint on Great Northern. I joined winner 700026 to Finsbury Park, before transferring onto double duds 313061 + 313xxx to Hornsey, before returning to Highbury & Islington on winner 313123 and dud 313043. I made a quick connection onto the Victoria Line and joined double winners 11065 + 11066 to Oxford Circus, where I headed to the Central Line and joined 92001 + 92062 + 92206 + 92039 to Marble Arch. At this point, I had roughly an hour till my train, so decided to walk back to Paddington via Edgware Road. This walk took around 40 minutes. I was soon back at Paddington and joined double duds 43150 + 43041 back to Weston via the Berks & Hants line.

Thameslink 700052 , Luton Airport Parkway 24.3.18 by DSH Trains, on Flickr

Winning Units: 15
Shacks cleared: 6

 

[Kite159]

A good day in the valleys & in London

 

[Cowley]

Finally caught up with the last two reports DH!
Great stuff, especially the trip on The Dartmoor Railway. It’s a long line isn’t it.